The data shown here, which was obtained by SCOPE from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, illustrates the percent change of people employed in Sarasota County. From 2007 to 2010, there were negative changes in the level of employment, and 2009 saw the largest percent decrease in employed people at  negative 7 percent. Since 2009, rates have increased at a relatively steady pace.  

CareerEdge Funders announced a new $250,000 effort to fund training for targeted career fields. The Barancik Foundation provided a grant to fund the program, the first major move from the foundation under new President and CEO Teri A. Hansen. 

“CareerEdge’s innovative approach to workforce development will fuel the mending economy and lead to greater economic growth and expansion,” said Hansen, who previously led the Gulf Coast Community Foundation for 13 years. The Gulf Coast Community Foundation right now is conducting a national search for a new CEO. Hansen announced in March she would take on the new role at Barancik so she would have the opportunity to grow a new philanthropic force in the region from the ground level. "The opportunity to work for the Barancik Foundation to help create their legacy during their lifetime is something special," she told SRQ at the time. CareerEdge announced the partnership with Barancik on Hansen’s first day on the job. 

Mireya Eavey, CareerEdge executive director, characterized the new relationship as capable of realigning the local workforce’s skill level with the needs of regional employers. The money specifically will fund training and paid internships for health care, manufacturing, information technology, transportation and logistics workers, all industries targeted by CareerEdge based on research on needed training within the local job market. “We want to improve the quality of living for the working poor, so that they are able to sustain a family lifestyle without having to work two jobs with minimal pay,” said Eavey. 

It was announced last week that BP would pay out $18.7 billion to settle all federal state and local government claims stemming from the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill in 2010, including those from a number of local jurisdictions. Kirk Pinkerton attorney Bill Robertson represents Sarasota, Bradenton Beach and Tampa in government actions against BP. SRQ spoke to him about the settlement.

How involved were attorneys for local jurisdictions in figuring this settlement amount? We were not directly involved in any of the negotiations. That was done at a higher level. It had been anticipated this would go on for a number of years. These settlement negotiations spun from multi-district litigation. A panel came up with a formula to calculate losses by all municipal claimants, which were settled all at once in a very closed and private negotiation between all parties. This global settlement covers all the municipal governments impacted from the Deepwater Horizon explosion. It’s not about the class action claims; those continue. This simply settles state and municipal government claims that arose as result of spill in 2010, including from Sarasota and Bradenton. As far as the current order, it does not allow local governments to talk about specific amounts. In the grand scheme, it will be a very fair number. Sarasota and Bradenton Beach will be part of global conversations.

Kirk Pinkerton represents hundreds of claimants with more than $45 million in combined damages and losses. Most of that is from businesses and individuals. Where do things stand with all the claims? The bulk of the claims are 200,000-plus class action claimants who still have not been paid anything. That is still our frustration. We have claimants who were hammered, including some who went out of business, and they have yet to see a dime with all the appeals filed by BP. This [settlement with governments] is a start but it does nothing to help those class-action claimants. The period for making any claims expired on June 8 this year, so all claims filed by anybody are now in the process. How long it will take to pay them? I don’t know. There is a great amount of work still to be done. 

Florida Super Lawyers magazine named the following Williams Parker lawyers as top attorneys for 2015:  John T. Berteau, J. Michael Hartenstine, Carol L. Myers, William M. Seider, Jeffrey T. Troiano, Kimberly P. Walker, and David A. Wallace. In addition, the following Williams Parker lawyers were named as Florida Rising Stars: Douglas J. Elmore, Rose-Anne B. Frano, Jennifer L. Grosso, Richard C. Lawrence and James-Allen McPheeters. Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from over 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The selection process includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations. 

Williams Parker

The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services announced the Sarasota Police Department has been chosen as a winner of its 20^th anniversary ‘Community Policing in Action’ photo contest.  The Sarasota Police Department is one of 12 law enforcement agencies in the country to be chosen in the first-ever social media photo contest.   The photo features Officer Carmen Woods and Lieutenant Kenneth Castro dancing with residents and visitors at community barbecue on January 4, 2014.  The photo was taken by the Sarasota Police Department Partnership Policing Communications Coordinator Genevieve Judge during the event. 

Sarasota Police Department